Our Week in the Forest...
‘Children have real understanding only of that which they invent themselves’
Jean Piaget
After our mini tropical heatwave last week, it was a welcoming sight to have some cooler temperature and rain showers this week! We have noticed the energy levels have been much higher without the draining temperatures and with this the children have been able to be much more active this week. This has resulted in a week of exciting construction projects with the children creating a great variety of structures.
The tepee building has probably been most notable this week. The activity has developed into a firm favourite for the children and each time we build them they change form, shape and purpose. This week we have built several, including one day when we connected two tepee structures together. The construction involves many roles, from children transporting the wood together to those who tie the thousands of knots, and of course it wouldn’t be complete without plenty of interior and exterior decorating taking place!! We have had some fantastic decorations this week, with one of the tepees being covered in plants and leaves, creating an almost fairy-tale cottage aesthetic. The construction then gives the great end result of an area for shelter, imaginative play or even just a place to rest.
Some of our building projects include the trees around us, especially in the nest area. It is now common sight for there to be ropes and strings within the nest being used as obstacles, aids and even traps! This week the children made an elaborate spiders web from our climbing ropes, with the help of our super star handyman Simon. The web was tied into the tops of the bushes above where the children climb and they were able to use it as a climbing aid. They were also able to hang off it pretending to be spiders. Some of our older children who are most confident with their climbing were able to tie the knots at the top and the others we able to tie the knots lower down with support from Simon. The activity was engaging and exciting and when walking into the nest the children seemed mesmerised by the intricacy and detail in the web.
As our Little Forest Folk develop and progress with their construction projects we aim to plan and provide them with ample opportunities to explore their creativity. We scaffold their learning through observing their play and then suggesting or using open questioning to help move it forward and progress it further. Our children at Fulham have a great sense of confidence when approaching activities. They always know what they need and if they can’t find what they are after (such as the correct blue rope) they approach their educators for support. This positive engagement and communication the children and staff have with each other is fantastic to see and was something picked up on by our recent Ofsted inspection.
What another fantastic week it has been with a great sense of collaboration and imagination!
Nursery world awards 2017
We are incredibly excited and proud to announce that Little Forest Folk are finalists in the 2017 Nursery World Awards in the following categories:
Nursery of the year
Health and Wellbeing
Online & Social Media
Newcomer of the year – Liam Bartlett educator at Little Forest Folk Wimbledon
Newcomer of the year – David Trillo educator at Little Forest Folk Wimbledon
Winners will be announce in the Autumn!
We hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Little Forest Folk
Fulham
